TOOLING company FCM Technologies has moved to an industrial park after spending £150,000 on equipment.

The company has tripled the size of its floorspace and is planning to recruit eight members of staff to join its workforce of 12.

FCM has moved from the Dean and Chapter Industrial Estate, in Ferryhill, to Maple Way, a £3.6m industrial and warehouse development in Aycliffe Industrial Park, in Newton Aycliffe, both County Durham.

Managing director Steve Peverall said: "Orders were increasing and so we had to invest in new equipment, but we couldn't fit it into our site at Ferryhill. The relocation has allowed us to continue expanding the business."

The company, which was set up two years ago, has seen turnover double in the past year.

FCM has taken a five-year lease on two units in Maple Way, built by Delma Developments, part of the Northern Trust Group, with funding from regional development agency One NorthEast.

Mark Hope, of Delma Developments, said: "The deal confirms the attraction of Maple Way in terms of the accessibility to Tyneside, Teesside and Yorkshire and the quality of the industrial space for manufacturing, engineering and distribution."